The London Handel festival seems to be working its way through the composer's operas at the steady rate of one per year. The latest choice is a rarely performed piece dating from near the end of Handel's theatrical career. Imeneo is shorter and less substantial than almost any of his other operas; he himself advertised it as an operetta. The general tone of the score – which includes no truly tragic situations, and whose mad scene is feigned, not real – indicates that he intended it to be taken lightly. Director Paul Curran, though, goes overboard in playing up its comic aspects, with the result veering perilously close to a romp.

The plot deals with the usual rivalries of potential lovers. The central character is Imeneo, god of marriage, who eventually wins the less than entirely willing hand of Rosmene from his rival Tirinto. Curran and designer Gary McCann revamp the ancient Greek setting as an upmarket beach holiday with the sea visible through a reconfigurable classical structure; it's just as well that the entirety of this young cast can wear swimwear on stage without embarrassment.

The modern-dress characters primp and preen, drink cocktails and run up large bills on their mobile phones. No aria is left unadorned by relentless comic activity either from the character singing it or one or more of their colleagues. Vocal standards are creditable, with Filipa van Eck demonstrating flair as Rosmene, Annie Fredriksson determination as Tirinto and Louise Alder delicacy as Clomiri. Morgan Pearse delivers a metrosexual Imeneo and Timothy Nelson a mildly concerned Argenio. The evening's best feature is the playing of the London Handel Orchestra under Laurence Cummings. On stage, the narrative is too often submerged by the sight gags.

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